More than just a starry, starry night

Tim Barlass

A RESIDENT of a small NSW country town says he regularly sees strange lights in the sky that he believes are UFOs.

Damien Nott, 33, moved to Dunedoo, north of Mudgee, last year to refurbish the property that used to belong to his grandparents.

Since then, he has been filming the lights, which have also been seen by members of his family.

Mariana Flynn, the president of UFO Research NSW, visited Mr Nott two weeks ago to observe firsthand what he was seeing.

Dunedoo is 100 kilometres from Coonabarabran, scene of this month's bushfires. Because of the lack of light pollution, the region promotes itself as the astronomy capital of Australia.

Although Mr Nott says he has had to endure disbelief and hostility from some in the town, which has a population of about 800, he said others were beginning to accept what he has seen.

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"I moved up in August and on my second night here I started witnessing strange objects flying through the sky,'' he said. ''It has been happening continually since … Five or six family members have now seen the same objects cruising through the sky and doing all sorts of amazing things.

''I have wanted this story to get out for a while but I have been too afraid of the ridicule.''

Mr Nott said he had on occasions made as many as 10 or 11 observations in one night. He had converted family members who were initially sceptics , he said.

''They are tough, country people who don't lie, they tell you what they see,'' he said. ''Surely other people out there have seen these things and either thought they were crazy or imagining things. People's attitudes towards this subject should be changed. All I want to do is get this subject matter out there so that people know they do exist and don't laugh at the next person who says they have seen something in the sky.''

Visiting Mr Nott on a clear night, Fairfax Media saw two high-altitude spots of light moving in tandem. But Airservices Australia and Sydney Observatory said it was likely they were satellites.

Mr Nott said: ''I have seen satellites before, these things we saw changed direction and their speed and colour. That's not the behaviour of a satellite.''

Ms Flynn said: ''I think he is genuine; he is not looking for publicity; he's not looking to make money out of this. He feels genuinely that he would like to publish his footage so that others can see what is actually up there and make up their own minds.''